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The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has clarified that its recently announced decision of asking corporates and limited liability partners (LLPs) to submit a web-based form to confirm their readiness to deal with the Covid-19 threat is “purely voluntary”.
There will be no fee applicable for the CAR (Company Affirmation of Readiness towards Covid-19) form, and it is purely voluntary, official sources said.
The CAR form is being introduced purely as a confidence-building measure to assess the readiness of companies to deal with the pandemic, they added. Also, no penalty would be levied or enforcement action taken, the MCA said.
The latest MCA stance is a change from the earlier one, which had required mandatory compliance by corporates and LLPs.
Earlier, the MCA had earlier stipulated that CAR would have to be filed by March 23. This had created some anguish among corporates executives, with some expressing their inability to meet the requirement in short notice, especially amid the Janata Curfew and lockdown.
Now, the MCA has advised companies and LLPs to submit the CAR form from March 23 onwards at the “earliest convenience”.
Work from home policy
The form seeks to gauge whether the company or LLP is in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines including a work from home policy. Since companies and LLPs are major employers, especially in urban areas, their cooperation and participation are essential to fully implement social distancing as a means to contain the spread, morbidity and mortality due to the disease, the MCA had said a few days back.
All companies are “expected and strongly advised” to put in place an immediate plan to implement a work from home policy as a temporary measure till March 31, after which the position will be reviewed by the appropriate authorities per the evolving situation, the MCA had then said.
Already, the MCA has relaxed the rules for board meetings and dispensed with the necessity of holding physical meetings on matters relating to approval of financial statements, board report, restructuring etc up to June 30.
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